'Personal Narrative of a pilgrimmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Vol. I' [‎164] (219/564)

15^. Pilgyiftici^c to Al-Mcidiucih
when necessary to "keep up appearances," and though he was a
he has sworn to perish before he forgets his vow to the that Sali
" daughter of his uncle," I shrewdly suspect he is no dfly-sucl
better than he should be. His brow crumples at the i n the^
word wine, but there is quite another expression about them, th
the region of the mouth; Stambul, where he has lived hammed
some months, without learning ten words of Turkish, is seldom I
a notable place for displacing prejudice. And finally, he f e iiow.
has not more than a piastre or two in his pocket, for he Hamid's
has squandered the large presents given to him at Cairo prospect
and Constantinople by noble ladies, to whom he acted as AH
master of the ceremonies at the tomb of the Apostle. opening
Stretched on a carpet, smoking a Persian Kaliun Oriental
all day, lies Salih Shakkar, a Turk on the father's, and twelve c
an Arab on the mother's side, born at Al-Madinah. This them; 1
lanky youth may be sixteen years old, but he has the stomachi
ideas of forty-six; he is thoroughly greedy, selfish, and un- believe,
generous; coldly supercilious as a Turk, and energetically were f u
avaricious as an Arab. He prays more often, and dresses sweetme
more respectably, than the descendant of the Clarified- starvatk
Butter-Seller; he affects the Constantinople style of ar ti c i e ,
toilette, and his light yellow complexion makes people con- p 01
sider him a " superior person." We were intimate vantage
enough on the road, when he borrowed from me a little f or a { e
money. But at Al-Madinah he cut me pitilessly, as a dollars;
«town man " does a continental acquaintance accidentally ma k e j,
met in Hyde Park ; and of course he tried, though in vain, three dc
to evade repaying his debt. He had a tincture of letters, him at
and appeared to have studied critically the subject of s i nce „
" largesse." " The Generous is Allah's friend, aye, though or) ^
he be a Sinner, and the Miser is Allah's Foe, aye, though serv j ce
he be a Saint," was a venerable saying always in his second)
mouth. He also informed me that Pharaoh, although y atagha
the quintessence of impiety, is mentioned by name in the Cashme
Koran, by reason of his liberality; whereas Nimrod, .——
another monster of iniquity, is only alluded to, because